FEAR HER

I quite enjoyed that. Really I don't know why so many people hate this story. I've not really found much to complain about it. And that's me! Okay so it's not about angst and hate and death but it does have some creepy moments and it's basically about love so what's to dislike about it. The girl who plays Chloe is not bad at all and in fact, she puts in a good performance for someone so young. The scribble monster is inspired. I also don't like that the Doctor hates cats or seems to. ANd yes, there's more than one TWILIGHT ZONE rip...homage. MONSTERS ARE DUE ON MAPLE STREET, LITTLE GIRL LOST (vanishing pets into another dimension but where did the Doc and the kids go when they vanished?), VALLEY OF THE SHADOW (cars not working on certain parts of the street or on the border of a town), IT'S A GOOD LIFE, THE GIFT (a nice extraterrestrial), THE SHELTER (neighbors blame each other and fight), and perhaps even THE BARD (writer writes Shakespeare alive). Still, for all that, it doesn't have TZone's trick twists that leave one often feeling awed and/or feeling like crap as someone gets it in the end (ie: turns out to be dead all along, put out in the field as a jack in the box or to turning out to be dinner for cannibal aliens; for all it's awards and praise given to it, TWILIGHT ZONE was one heckva downer show most of the time).

Here we have an upbeat ending. The only thing I didn't like is why did it have to be the Doctor who carried the torch in the end? Why did the runner tire out? That was silly. The other thing I thought I didn't like was that all those people vanishing from the stadium...but to be honest, it did not bother me this time. I even like the POLTERGEIST like ending with the father coming out of the closet to hurt Chloe...or try to. Rose, as ever, is pro active and fares rather well in this story. And for once no one dies. I also thought we got away with a TorchWood reference but there might have been one on the news. I didn't mind any of the TW references then nor now but I thought it was kind of odd that the name TW kept propping up...advertising for the bad show about to be sprung on us about non love and evil all over the place? Well, anyway, this story is a nice love story with an alien that is'nt out to murder all of us. It's also a smaller story set in a suburb (at least I think it's a suburb) and DW should do smaller stories. Rose's mention of a cat is either a set up for after the fact or a nod toward an annual story about her having a cat (a pretty good story that was, too). Love the Doc saying he was a father once and Rose's reaction but of course, this closed mouthed Doctor won't go on about it. He also doesn't really seem to see the effect of his holding hands with Rose has on her. Are they are aren't they? Hard to tell and from DOOMSDAY when he asks her if she's pregnant...was he asking if it was someone else's and if so why was he so scared and if not, then did he think it could possibly be his!?? But ahead of the game. This was a good story and I'm tired of its bad reputation. Rose is so less annoyng than she used to be and so less conceited. The Doc, too, seems to have been taken down a notch. Still, she does not feel what's coming or what's in the air but he does...I was really worried that Rose was going to die, not helped by the whole preview of next time, "This is the last story I'll ever tell." Of course, that's a lie but it should have been (Rose should never have come back in STOLEN EARTH/JOURNEY'S END but more on that later). As much as I liked Rose, I thought it might have been time for her to go and while she's not my favorite companion, she brought a whole new dimension to DW that no one else did or could do as brillantly as this actress and character and I didn't want to see her or her family killed off and for once, I honestly thought they were going to do it. RTD says it was never a consideration, after the fact that he promoted it like she was going to die and even starts out the next two stories (epsiodes) with statements that say stuff like "'This is the story of how I died." While I didn't mind it in these two episodes, RTD tries it again by making us think the Doctor is going to regenerate in JOURNEY'S END and then he reneges...and it does not work there for me. It makes me angry at him. I wanted David to go in JE but more on that later, again. For now, Rose's life was in danger and the excitement that she, Jackie, Mickey, Jake, or Pete could die kept things lively and scary. Oh and later in the preview for DOOMSDAY, Rose says, "You didn't have to kill him," just after they show Mickey so I thought he was a gonna too. Thanks for scaring me RTD. You bastard :).